Full circle
by nightblight
Summary: Fluff... GSR... Spoilers... LLV... Shoulda resisted the urge to write this, but my brain was consumed by it. Nothing special...


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**Warning this is not a new chapter or anything I found some mistakes and fixed them. Sorry. If you have already read it, this is nothing new! Thanks though!**

**Disclaimer:** They do not belong to me. If they did that clip for this weeks show would be more loving, less sad, and well maybe Grissom would have a change of heart.

This has spoilers for LLV. Not to worry nothing too serious. It is GSR. Will never happen on the show, but it was there in my head dying to get out.

It is unbeta'ed because I am impatient today, so all of the mistakes are mine.

It is pure and unadulterated fluff, with no relevant purpose in this world. I really should not have even written it, but I felt compelled to, so I followed my muse and she lead me here…

**Full Circle : By Nightblight**

_The end and the beginning… sometimes you find that with each you have come full circle._

He felt like a 90 year old man, and his migraines had been getting progressively more painful and undeniably more frequent. It was most certainly time for a break, before he hit rock bottom and walked away from his career completely. He'd gone home the morning after the Case-Sinclair murders and showed Sara the letter.

He wasn't sure what the response was that he had been expecting, but her quiet encouragement and support had not been it. He'd been pleasantly surprised and had felt as though the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders, if only for a little while.

She's smiled at him over the letter's rim, as let out a soft "Way to go, Doc…" before wrapping her arms around him and leading him off to bed. He hadn't gotten much sleep. That day or any day since, but the strength of her embrace, and the passion in her eyes when they were making love made the dwindling hours well worth it.

Still he hadn't responded to the letter until Mr. Dell had taken the time to end his life via live feed directly into his email box. He'd been so unraveled by the incident that even now he got the shakes when he hit the Outlook Icon on his desktop. Some how despite the lack of real blood, he felt that something belonging to him had been irreparably stained. He'd replied via phone just the previous afternoon. Williams College would be pleased to have him.

It was most definitely time to go, though he knew that most of his heart would be left behind when he stepped on the plane.

Earlier that afternoon Sara had come to him with his medication and dangled it in front of him. "Bugman, these are not a cure. They are a folly; you and I both know it." She'd sat down beside him, taken his hand in hers and told him to make the call and get packing. Then she'd kissed him, made love to him for the second time that day, and had helped him shove several weeks worth of belongings into two small suitcases. Now there were only a few things was left to do, the most pressing one being, to tell Conrad Ecklie.

"Conrad." He knocked on the door frame and waited for the man to look up. Ecklie was hunched over the desk, shoulders slouched, and eyes riveted to a report like he was trying to decipher some foreign language. Grissom pondered the pasty pallor of the man's skin against the charcoal grey of his typical suit and decided that it definitely made him look all the more snakelike.

"Gil…" The assistant lab director dropped finally his pen on the stack of files he was making his way through, and tossed a nod towards the chair. "What can I do for you?" His smile was false as he shifted back into his chair and appraised the man in front of him.

Grissom chose not to sit; instead he moved into the office, shut the door behind him then dropped his leave of absence form on the desk along with the letter from the college. He indicated the paperwork. "I need some time, immediately."

The light from above glinted off the top of Ecklie's head as he reached for the papers and perused them, a curious look plastered on his face.

"I've been offered the opportunity to participate in a peer seminar and I am going to accept it. Its three weeks long, starts on Monday, and frankly I need the break. Especially after Mr…" His words trailed off as he caught the nod of acknowledgement from the man in front of him.

"I understand. Take the time you need. Catherine can cover for you."

"Thanks, I've been feeling a little burnt out for a while now, Ernest Dell was just the proverbial icing on the cake."

A look of amusement crossed the AD's face and he signed the form in front of him. "Then go before you do something stupid and very midlife crisis, like quit your job, marry a showgirl or have an affair with a co-worker." He looked up at the man in front of him studying the dark shadows under his colleague's eyes. "You should tell your team, today – preferably - _before_ you leave."

Gil Grissom turned to exit and then sighed heavily and turned back. Double checking the door to make sure it was closed, he lowered his voice. "You need to know that one of those things, I've already done. But she's not a midlife crisis, more of a revelation, or a savior if you will." There would never be a right time to tell the man, so the Grissom decided that now was as good a time as any.

"The fact that you're telling me this indicates that it's not the showgirl option…" Ecklie rubbed a hand over tired eyes.

"No…" The word was soft, but held no hint of an apology.

"Jesus Gil…" He tossed his pen on the desk and rubbed his chin. "You've put me in a situation here. You are, after all, in a position of authority over your entire shift, how can this not seem inappropriate?"

"The Sheriff doesn't seem to have a problem with it. He's been aware of it for some time. We have both signed affidavits stating that our relationship is mutual and consensual and we've agreed to keep it strictly professional on the job. It has worked exceedingly well, so far."

"So far is the operative phrase here, Gil."

"We've been together for over a year now and other than you and the sheriff, no one knows or has even suspected." Grissom leaned against the door his arms crossed defiantly against his broad chest; the look in his eyes just daring the AD to try and make trouble for them.

"It's Sidle isn't it?" Ecklie shrugged off a growing headache, and leveled the man in front of him with a grim stare; recriminations dancing through his head. He should have fired her ass while he'd had the chance.

Grissom simply nodded.

"So why saddle me with this revelation now?" Conrad Ecklie leaned back into his thick leather chair and studied his graveyard shift supervisor.

"No reason. I just thought you should know." Unfolding his arms he made to leave.

"Fine then, enjoy your time off, and tell Ms. Sidle that just because you are fucking her doesn't mean she is entitled to any special privileges."

There were many things that Gil Grissom wanted to do in response to his remark, the least of which was slam the man through his office wall and well into the next century, but instead he rubbed his chin nonchalantly, for a moment and then counted to ten before replying. When he did his voice was dark, and weighty and very much a reflection of the anger he was trying his best to contain. "If you ever say anything like that to me or Sara again, I will see to it that you are charged with harassment. We live together, and I _love_ her. Make no mistake about that, Conrad. Now I know that love is a concept you are a little weak on, but let me enlighten you, it's probably the one thing that was missing from your marriage since I find it hard to believe that you could feel that emotion for anyone but yourself." One thick hand gripped the doorknob with a strangling intensity, and he flung it open allowing it to slam forebodingly against a shelf perched beside it. A loud crash was heard echoing down the hallway as two of Ecklie's awards toppled off of it and tumbled to the floor.

The entomologist ignored the occurrence as if it had never happened, and then turned to the man one final time. "And I think I can speak for Sara when I say that she gets all the special privileges she needs at home." A Cheshire cat grin was perched on his lips as he made his way through the lab.

Grissom poked his head into the trace lab, his eyes falling on the two men hunched over the dual microscopes.

"Dunno man it looks an awful lot like silver paint balls…" Nick adjusted the microscope slightly and stared in it again.

"A metal compound… Maybe mercury…?" Warrick offered.

"Maybe… Where the hell is Hodges, anyway?" Nick cast a look around the lab spotting Grissom standing in the doorway, he nodded.

"Off with pneumonia… And they couldn't get anyone in from days." Grissom wobbled into the room.

The darker of the two CSIs looked up and caught his supervisor standing in the doorway. "Hey Gris..."

"Is it pressing?" The older man asked, as he came to a stop in front of the table.

The tall Texan tossed a look at his friend and shrugged, Warrick answered for them both. "Not really. Just trace on that hit and run outside of town. No cameras, no eyewitnesses, the vic is in the hospital but expected to make a full recovery. The only trace is these metal balls we found on his clothes."

"Bag it, tag it, and leave it for days, we're going out for breakfast." Grissom ordered and headed out the doorway.

"Ah…Gris…"

"Yeah…?" He spun, his hand stuffed in his pocket, his eyebrows raised in askance.

"Uh…I promised Tina I would take her out for breakfast before work. Can we do it tomorrow, instead?"

"No…" The older man shook his head. "It's mandatory."

"A mandatory breakfast…?" Warrick cast a curious gaze at Nick.

"My treat," he announced as he went off in search of the rest of his team, leaving two very curious CSIs staring after him.

He found Catherine and Greg in the drying room, examining a pair of riding boots and matching chaps.

"Billingsworth case…?"

"Mmm…" Catherine barely looked at him, and she went about scraping something red and crusty off of the bottom of one shiny boot.

"We think the rider, the woman who owns this boot was there when the trainer died. She's claiming she wasn't but this should prove otherwise…"

Grissom nodded silently. "Wendy's backlogged."

"I was going to run DNA." Greg offered his dark eyes seemingly downcast at the prospect. The idea had clearly been Catherine's.

"Forget it." He motioned to the table. "Pack it up, leave the swabs in DNA; you can grab the results tonight. We are all going for breakfast, on me."

Before Catherine could utter a word, he was gone.

The best defense is a good offence… He thought as he wandered down the hallway, his cell phone gripped in his thick hand. Hitting speed dial, Grissom waited to for the man on the other end to pick up.

It was only a matter of seconds.

"He's deader that Elvis…" Brass' voice broke through the speaker. "Just scoop all of him up and shove it into the bag with the rest of the body." There was mumbling in the background for a moment. "Okay so then put him in plastic bucket; one with a lid." He added. "Brass here..."

"Jim…" Grissom was trying to visualize what was going on, on the other end. "Are you at the Bellagio shooting?"

"Nah…" The gruff cop's voice boomed across the phone line. "Three week old decomp out in Henderson. Not sure how the neighbors didn't notice the smell, when the mailman picked it out from half a block away, but hey who am I to judge."

"Are you just getting started?" He wanted Brass to attend the breakfast. Though he wasn't part of the team perse, he was Grissom's closest friend.

"No I'm almost done here. A couple of guys from days were called in. They've been and gone… nothing left to do but scoop him up and pour him into the bag... bucket."

"Nice…" It had to have been Grissom's imagination, but he could almost smell the decomp from over the phone. "Listen, the team and I are going out for breakfast, I'd like if it you'd join us."

"Ah… okay…" Brass sniffed his suit jacket and waved away the odor. "Frank's?"

"Yeah, say an hour?"

"Done…"

"Oh and Brass…"

"Yeah...?"

"Shower first."

"If you're lucky…" he grumbled.

There was only one person left to visit. She was hiding, under a car, with only her two Lugz clad feet showing. Dressed in a typical lab issue blue jumpsuit, her boots were bouncing to the beat of the music blaring on the radio. Grissom wandered over and flicked off the music, before going to join her on the floor. He sat his back resting against the stunning red porche she was dismantling. "It talked to Ecklie…"

"That was my favorite song you know…"

He bent over and peeked under the car, all he could see was her long slim fingers manipulating a wrench, and the underside of her chin. "Sorry…?"

Her hands dropped to her sides and she stared at the underside of the engine, for a moment before raising her head slightly to look at him. She caught his eye and the confused look on his face. His decision to go had been supported by her; it wasn't fair that she blame him. Her words were a resigned whisper. "No… I'm sorry." There was a slight hitch in her voice, and it almost brought him to his knees.

"I told Ecklie, about the seminar. I'm on leave, effective the end of shift." He placed one warm palm just below her knee and massaged it reassuringly, though he wasn't sure if it was her or himself he was trying to make feel better.

It would only be three weeks, and he needed this, he knew it and she knew it, but that didn't make it any easier.

"Have you told the team?" She resumed her tinkering, her mind not really on the case or the evidence any more.

"No…" He left his hand on her leg, his head pressed back against the gleaming metal door of the automobile. "We're going for breakfast. I'll tell them then."

She nodded silently, and then let out a soft sigh. Her head was brilliantly rational; it had thought the entire thing through; balanced the pros and the cons in a lucid intelligent way, Grissom needed this otherwise he would burn completely out. He was already suffering from the physical symptoms – migraines, a minor Rolaids addiction, interrupted sleep patterns…the list was getting longer by the day. Pretty soon it would affect him more heavily on an emotional level. He really did need this time away to recharge, but her heart – well it was being non-cooperative. It simply ached in her chest at the thought of an empty bed, a vacant apartment, and the nothingness that she would have to go home to at the end of shift. When he'd initially gotten the letter it was a good thing, she was happy for him, but as the days flowed by and the deadline edged closer she had chosen to ignore the implications. Then when she had made him make call that morning it had taken all she could give just to smile, and pretend her heart wasn't breaking. Reality was now staring her square in the face and he was leaving. A small stream of tears trickled from the corner of her tightly closed eyelids, she wiped them away anxiously. Sara Sidle would not cry in front of him.

"Sara, can you come out?" He knew she was crying, he couldn't hear it, or see it, but the change in her breathing pattern betrayed her, none the less.

"I'm looking for a bullet." She whacked the nut slightly, stifling the sob in her chest. "It has to be in the gas tank."

"Sara, love, come out." His voice was soft, and full of regret. What was he doing? How could he leave her?

His hand left her leg, the heat of his body immediately missed. There was a shuffling sound followed by a rolling squeak. Two seconds later, he was beside her.

"That one has a broken wheel." Sara informed him, nonchalantly, her hands working loose the nut she'd been wrestling with. "And you're going to get your clothes all dirty."

He was dressed in a typical pair of dark pants, and a light blue golf shirt she had bought him for Christmas. Grissom loved her gift but it was the least of his concerns at the moment.

The nut had jammed mid spin so she whacked it again.

He reached over and stilled her hands; the warmth of his grip, unfurling a few more threads of her self imposed calm. She looked away, willing her eyes to stop ignoring her orders to cease and desist with the waterworks. "I can stay if you want."

The bitch of it is… she knew he would. He would offer up his soul to make her happy, and then slowly die an emotional death.

"No. You need to go." Pulling her hand away from him she returned her stare to the nut she was working, and twisted it one last time, before it fell loosely into her outstretched palm. "I know it too, that's why I suggested you accept, but..." She swallowed tightly

"I know." One thick finger made its way along the damp trail left behind by her tears. "I have invited everyone to breakfast."

"Oh…" She turned to face him.

"You need to be there." It wasn't a request and she knew it.

"I… I don't know if I can do it..." A second nut came loose in her hand, she'd unfastened it earlier, and all it had taken was a quick twist. "It's one thing to say good bye to you in private, but to be there while you tell everyone else you're going away for three weeks, I just don't think I can sit there and not betray us." Glassy chocolate eyes turned and studied the blue ones that were gazing back at her. "Maybe you can tell them I got caught up with something here. I can meet you after, to take you to the airport." Another nut fell into her palm.

"No Sara, I want you with me."

The entire gas tank suddenly came loose in her hand, and it dropped. Grissom grabbed the end of it. Sara had drained the gas earlier, and as the thing moved between them the bullet rolled out onto the floor beside her. Shucking the gas tank aside with her lover's help, she scooped up the piece of evidence she'd been looking for and quickly rolled herself out from under the car.

The slim brunette was on her feet even before Grissom cleared the car. By the time he was standing behind her, hands placed on her thin hips, she was already bagging the bullet, and labeling it.

He breathed into her hair. "You'll be fine." He kissed her neck.

"Right..." She pursed her lips, but didn't turn to look at him.

"I also told Ecklie about us."

That did the trick. She was turned around, and facing him in a matter of seconds, a look of utter horror plastered on her face. "So I have to face him alone?"

"Sara…" His hands came up, and he gripped the sides of her face. "He won't bother you. That's one thing I _can_ promise you." With that he broke his number one rule for the lab; he pulled her into a mind-numbing kiss.

Extremely nervous about being caught Sara pulled away, and smiled softly at him. "Save it bugman. I'll collect later."

"Mmmm… A promise I hope." He winked and she blushed.

"Maybe…if you're a good boy..." What she didn't add was that it would be a while before she would be able to follow up on her promises. It was something they both already knew. From breakfast, they would swing by the townhouse in separate cars, pick up his luggage, and she would deliver him to the airport; all the while pretending his impending absence wasn't hurting her at all.

She would be lying to herself and him, and they would both know it.

"I'm going to have a shower." The slim brunette brushed aside a loose strand of hair, smudging a spot of grease that had taken up residence beside her ear.

Instinctively, Grissom ran a thumb over it. "Frank's 45 minutes?"

"Yeah…" her response was only half hearted as he wobbled out of the lab.

He trying to get out of the building and running a few minutes late. One of the lab techs had caught up with him in the hall and tossed a ream of questions his way about a case they had just closed. In the end, he had waved the girl off and high-tailed it into the locker room.

The smell of bamboo and lilac was heavy in the air, and that's when he realized that she was still in there, too.

Sara had been dawdling. She was not looking forward to the breakfast, she was most definitely dreading being on her own for the next few weeks, and she hated having to say good-bye.

She heard him come up behind her, and the box in his hands, and the briefcase carefully perched on top finally solidified it for her. "So I guess this is it?" There was a heartbeat. "So you're going."

"Yes…" He looked almost mournful. "Just say the word Sara…"

She shook her head. She would not be the one to do that to him; she would not be the one to make him stay. If he did so, it would have to be him that made that decision, instead she turned and pulled her jacket from the locker. It was fairly warm outside for the time of year, but she was suddenly feeling very cold. "I'll meet you at Frank's." She shoved her bag into the locker and grabbed her purse. Hoping that he would be gone by the time she turned back around.

He wasn't.

"I'll miss you."

His words bit into her, and she shook them off refusing to look at him. "It's not that long right?"

He nodded.

"Then I'll be fine." Her words held little emotion, none of them betraying her true feelings. She didn't mean to be so frosty to him but some part of her - most likely the scared immature little girl part - allowed a small amount of insecurity to seep in behind the tough veneer of a rational and intelligent woman, and this was most certainly a knee jerk reaction to that. Sara suddenly felt the need to distance herself from all that they had built together for fear of the pain she would experience if he decided not to come back.

"Drive over with me?"

She shook her head. "It'll be too hard to explain to the others. I'll meet you there." She needed time to pull her head together. With that, she practically ran out of the locker room.

By the time he arrived at the restaurant, the place was fairly crowded, and everyone who was supposed to be there, was there, except for Brass. They were all happily squashed into a circular booth at the back of the diner and as Grissom wandered over the lively chatter softened and they all shuffled together to make room for him on the end.

By fortune of his arrival time, he ended up sitting directly across from the woman he'd been sharing his life with for over a year. She looked away, absently studying something invisible in the parking lot.

"Can we order now?" Greg was the first to speak, his hand immediately going up to call the waitress over.

"You already had toast." Nick chided, and nudged the younger man beside him.

"Hey, even geniuses need to eat…" The younger man tapped his head; he was still on cloud nine after having solved his first big solo case a day earlier.

"Yeah but man you eat constantly." Warrick leaned into the former lab rat effectively sandwiching him between himself and Nick.

"And everything," Sara added. "I seem to recall a trunk and a mouthful of human remains not too long ago…eh…Greggo?"

Sanders, who had snatched a piece of toast off the top of a stack they had ordered earlier, stopped midway to him mouth and then shrugged before shoving the whole thing in. "That was gross, but a man still needs to feed the gray matter…" He mumbled around a mouthful of dough.

Sara simply rolled her eyes, and continued her perusal of the parking lot.

"What can I get for you?" The waitress asked around an impossibly large wad of gum.

The orders moved down the line, and when everyone was satisfied in their choices the waitress moved off and returned immediately with a fresh cup for Grissom, and a refill for everyone else.

"So bossman what's so important that we all needed to be here this morning?" Nick took a long pull of his coffee and grimaced tightly. "Damn this stuff tastes like turpentine." He examined the liquid tar in his cup and dropped it back on the table.

"Yeah man, today is gonna cost me. I have to grab some tickets to something in town to bail my way out of my wife's anger."

This drew a couple of chuckles from both Sara and Catherine, while Greg laughed outright and mumbled "Man, you are so whipped."

"No, no, no…" Warrick shook his head, his green eyes flashing with humor. "See it's not like that."

"From where I'm sitting it sounds like it is, bro'" Nick was normally the last one to jump into something like this conversation-wise, the youngest of 7 children – most of whom wore skirts - he knew better, but he couldn't help at ribbing his friend slightly.

"With all of the doubles, triples and overtime you work you two must have seen every show in town by now." Catherine smirked and nudged Grissom.

"Yeah well she has. I keep buying the tickets for us to go and she ends up taking one of her friends instead because I get called in."

Even Sara cringed at that comment.

"That sucks, dude." Nick was openly sympathetic, noting that he had been there often enough. "My last date, actually threw a glass of wine at me for ditching her a second time." He snatched at plate that the waitress was handing him. "Then she told me never to call her again. I mean, where is the understanding? You know back in the old west men used to follow the work, they were gone for months. Women stuck around, raised the kids took care of the homestead…" He shoved a mouthful of egg into his mouth. "They understood."

"Ahhh Nicky, they may have understood, and they may have kept the homestead in shape alright, but I'm sure that they didn't spend all their time pining away. I bet there were many times those women had someone else there to keep their toes warm at night; a lonely neighbor, a farm hand, someone passing through. I mean, after all that really is all a woman wants…" Catherine grabbed her own plate from the server's outstretched hand, and began buttering her pancakes.

A plate was dropped in front of him but he barely acknowledged it. Grissom's eyebrows had almost hit his hairline at Catherine's comment and his mouth went dry. Just the thought of Sara with another man felt like a glowing hot knife twisting in his gut. The turn of the conversation was becoming disturbing to him and he had no doubt that it would get to Sara, too. Despite her denials, despite the fact that she was the one who had pushed him to go, he knew on some level that his leaving, although it had nothing to do with her or their relationship, had dredged up some long buried insecurities. And the fact that she was refusing to look at him, though they were a mere table width a part, supported these suspicions. He was tempted to reach across, grab her hand in his, and tell her in front of everyone how much in love with her he really was.

It was at that moment when he made up his mind about something that had been plaguing him for the past few months.

"Well I for one can say that Tina wants more from me than just a warm body in bed." Warrick poured a generous helping of syrup over his waffles and shoved a wad of the thick sweet food into his mouth.

"Yeah… I bet she does. There's help with the laundry, help with the housework, help with the cooking, and decorating that new place of yours…" Nicky nodded at his friend.

"Yeah she wants total domination, Rick!" Greg offered, and this time everyone at the table laughed.

"Isn't that stuff you would do if you love the person you're in a relationship with?"

Total silence fell at Grissom's question, and everyone except the woman sitting across from him had a look of complete amazement on their face.

When no one responded Grissom went on. "A relationship should be built on mutual respect, consideration, and equality, as well as love. So what if you have paint your livingroom eggplant, or pick-up your partner's funky colored underwear from the bathroom floor everyday, or eat something that really can't be described as food to appease them every now and then. Love is about give and take. Right, Warrick?"

Catherine chewed her pancakes slowly, her brain abuzz; she could have been gnawing on an old shoe and wouldn't have known the difference at this point. Gil Grissom, the man who rarely divulged personal information, was presently sharing his ideas on relationships. Something she was certain he hadn't even had in… well in - forever.

"Ah yeah…" Warrick replied casting a "_what the hell?_" glance at Nick and Greg.

Sara had turned an unflattering shade of red and was rooting around on the floor looking for the napkin she had _accidentally_ dropped. She brought her head back up when his calm words once again broke over the din of the other restaurant patrons.

"Anyway, the reason I called you here is because I am planning on taking a sabbatical." Brass still hadn't arrived, but Grissom figured he'd been hung up somewhere. He would tell him later, probably via cell.

Everyone had started talking at once.

"Wait." He held up his hand and waved everyone off. "I am leaving effective today. It will only be three weeks. It is a seminar that I will be participating in, and I will be at Williams College starting Monday." He leveled Catherine and the others with a pointed stare. "I need the time away. I'm always telling you to watch out for burn out and I am just taking my own advice. I need to redirect my energy for a while before I am completely consumed by the work we do."

"Wow." Nick was the first to speak. "When did you decide this?"

"The offer came a while ago. I have been mulling it over, and with the help of someone who gave me very good advice, I made up my mind today."

Almost the entire group had turned to Catherine, assuming she was the one who had told him to go. She simply shook her head.

"I expect this to help refresh me and help me refocus. You all will reach this junction at some point in your career. So it is a small change that I am going to make for a short time, that's all."

"Do you have to leave town, though?" It was Greg. "You could stay here; you know ride some coasters, meet up with us for breakfast…"

"He would just get pulled back in." For the first time since her earlier comments to the ex lab tech, Sara's soft voice broke into the conversation. "There is no end here. You all know that there will always be another victim, another murder, or another rape case to solve. All it would take would be a super busy night or a difficult high profile case and the sheriff would be on the phone to him. He would be compelled to oblige." Sara stared at the untouched fruit on her plate.

"Sara's right." Grissom's deep blue eyes sought her's, but regardless of her acceptance and understanding she still wouldn't look at him. "I need the distance. Ecklie sent me an email before I left. There is a new CSI from days who will be loaned to graveyard while I'm gone. Again, it's a small change and only for a short time."

They all nodded; silent.

"Now when I get back, I do intend to make an even bigger change, for a much longer time."

"No Gris…" Nick dropped his fork on the plate and shook his head. "You aren't going to quit, or step down. You can't."

"No, that's not it." He looked at the concern written on the faces of his adopted family. "I have been seeing someone."

Sara physically stiffened, and under the table Nick reached for her hand. He knew full well how she felt about their boss. She had seemed to have gotten better about hiding it over time, and for a while now she had even appeared to have moved on, but for him to coldly announce that he was involved with someone in front of her… well her reaction said it all… It was going to hurt.

Sara finally brought her eyes to meet Grissom's, a look of complete panic on her face; he caught her fear and shook it away with a small smile.

_What the hell was he doing?_ She cringed internally as she felt Nick's warm hand pump hers in silent support.

"Well that's uh great, Gris." Nick was less than enthused with the news and he wasn't afraid to show it. In fact, he's allowed his anger at the man's callousness to weave its way into his words, in hopes that Grissom would clearly get the point.

But he didn't.

"I'm going to ask her to marry me."

Greg's mouth dropped, and Warrick actually choked on the eggs he'd been chewing.

"When did all this happen?" Even Catherine cast a worried glance in Sara's direction as she placed her coffee back on the table and turned to the man beside her.

Warrick had finally cleared his windpipe enough to allow in some air, so he spit out a few words in the process. "You sure about this, man?" He knew from recent experience that jumping into something you were not ready for was a whole handful of thorns.

Sara simply sat dumbstruck. Her face, she was certain, was a horrible shade of ghostly white.

_Marriage…?_ He'd never even indicated an interest in the institution.

"More certain than I've ever been…" He assured them all and then turned to Catherine. "We've been together for over a year now, and I love her." Out of his pocket he pulled a small black box, and then he carefully flipped it open. Inside, perched on a soft velvet pillow, was a stunning one carat solitaire diamond set in a simple gold band. He dropped it on the table in front of himself and turned it so everyone else could see.

A group gasp ensued, followed by varying degrees of oohs and awes. Sara had simply turned away, her heart thumping wildly in her chest.

"I bought the ring four months ago, and I've been waiting for the right time to give it to her. But with a serial on the loose and the criminals of Las Vegas getting in the way, it never seemed the right time to ask her." He grimaced slightly and pulled out the ring, the beautifully cut facets of it, cast brilliant sparkles as it moved through the early morning light. "I mean, it's hard to get down on one knee and pop the question when you've just spent the night wading through a pile of someone's entrails. It just doesn't set the mood very well."

"So uh… when are you going to ask her?" Her old friend had her seriously concerned, and Catherine was desperately hoping that this wasn't a result of his present emotional state, though four months previously he had seemed to be fine, and a over year… well that was pretty telling.

Nick glanced at the blonde woman, willing her to stop with the questions. He wasn't against knowing anything about the man's impending marriage, perse, but he just didn't want to hear about it now, knowing that each and every word was hurting his friend beside him. He still held a firm grip on Sara's hand, but her hold had slackened, and she'd flashed him an almost accepting smile.

"Well, I actually already have…sort of."

"Sort of…?" Greg repeated amazed.

"Griss, how do you sort of ask a woman to marry you?" Warrick was curious because he was never quite sure how he had ended up at _The Little Wedding Chapel of Love, _himself. Maybe he'd suffered the same phenomenon, as Grissom. He could only hope that his boss' outcome was better.

"Like this…" He turned and held the ring out to the woman across the table from him… "What do you say, Sara? Will you be my wife?" With that he got up and actually dropped to his knee beside her.

The slim brunette's face went from ghastly pale to a dazzling scarlet in a matter of seconds. Pulling her hand from Nick's she placed it along side the other one, which was already clasped over her face - covering a brilliantly embarrassed smile. Tears flooded her eyes, and despite her reservations about the union itself, she already knew what her answer would be.

Gently her lover pulled her left hand from her face, as she nodded, still unable to respond verbally. She watched in amazement as he slipped the cool metal along her finger and then followed it up with a kiss.

"No way…" was all Greg managed, before Warrick nudged him into silence.

"Yes way…" Grissom responded, over Sara's shoulder as he pulled both himself and her to their feet and drew her into a tight bear hug; the shit eating grin on his face telling everyone at the table that he knew that he had won the top prize at the fair.

The slim brunette simply giggled against his chest, a slew of tears and residual redness making her more of a mess, than a beautiful bride to be.

"You managed to keep this from us for a year?" Catherine was confounded.

"Hah…" Nick simply laughed his chest infinitely lighter. "I, for one, am really happy for you two, seriously." He was the first on his feet and shaking Grissom's hand despite the fact that he was still trying to hold a certain brunette with it.

"Yeah me too." Warrick was behind Nick leaning over the table in line to grab the entomologist's hand.

"Longer…" Sara laughed against Grissom's neck in reply to Catherine's initial question. She knew the older woman would be pissed that her investigative skills had been so easily thwarted.

"Well congratulations…" Catherine was on her feet now too, but instead of shaking her long time friend's hand she pulled a shaking Sara off of him, and gave her a heartfelt hug. "And I truly mean that." She whispered into the younger woman's ear.

"Thanks, Cath." The younger woman leaned into her friend's embrace. She really was the closest thing to a sister, she had ever known.

"Hey give her back."

Grissom, waited as the two women separated, and drew his new fiancé into a tender kiss.

They both blushed as Greg let out an ear splitting whistle. "I want to be the ring boy…" He announced proudly.

Everyone chuckled and moved back into their seats. This time though, Grissom pulled Sara down beside him forcing everyone else shift over one spot.

After a few moments of plate swapping, everyone had settled back into a light chatter, as series of questions floated around about the whats, whens, and whys of their relationship, and then moved onto queries about Grissom's seminar.

Through the entire conversation Grissom sat, with his fingers firmly clenched around her Sara's slender ones; one thick thumb gently stroking the back of her hand.

"Man you are way more understanding that Tina is…" Warrick looked at Sara as he chewed on a piece of toast. "If I had just gotten engaged to her and then took off for three weeks…" He chuckled darkly. "I'm sure there would be no children in our future, she would castrate me on the spot."

Sara grinned sadly. "I'm not going to lie and say I'm happy about it." She tossed a pained look at Grissom. "But he really does need the time away, and that's okay. We all have times when we are overwhelmed by the brutality of our work. Sometimes a day or two is all you need. Sometimes it's more." She leaned into him seeking his comfort; knowing that their time together was dwindling. She wiped away the residual wetness from her earlier tears.

"It's only three weeks." Grissom pumped her hand and then leaned over and kissed her on the temple.

Greg cleared his throat. "Is this still a secret? I mean like… at the lab?"

"Ecklie knows, as does the Sheriff." Grissom confirmed. "I don't want there to be any talk of it or for it to become common knowledge at work. If someone, who has not been told, figures it out, then it will be confirmed or denied Sara or myself."

Everyone nodded at this. Then noses wrinkled and the people at the table gagged slightly as their eyes began to water. They literally smelled him before they heard him.

"So what did I miss?" Totally oblivious to the reactions of the other restaurant patrons and looks on the CSIs faces, Jim Brass grabbed a free chair, pulled it up to the end of the table, and dropped exhaustedly into it before reaching across and snatching a strawberry from Sara's plate.

"I thought I said to shower, Jim?" Grissom asked pointedly.

"Oh, bad accident out on the I-90 got caught up there. It was either come straight here or miss you entirely." He sniffed himself. "I don't smell that bad, do I?"

"Your nose is lying to you." Grissom informed him sedately and slapped away his friend's hand as he reached for a piece of his toast.

Taking pity on the Captain, Sara passed him her plate of fruit and crepes.

"Thanks…" the older man grabbed a spare fork from a table behind him and shoved some in his mouth. "So again, what did I miss?"

"Let's see…" Greg held up his hand, and counted. "One, Grissom is going on a sabbatical."

"A teaching seminar, actually…"

"Two, he's going to be gone for about a month..." Greg continued.

"Three weeks, really, give or take a day."

"Three, it's in Massachusetts." The former lab tech looked questioningly at the older man.

"You're right it is, Greg."

"Four, it's cold there, but not to worry because he now has someone to warm him up, big time, when he gets back." He looked at Grissom again unsure as to whether he should tell Brass, about the engagement or not.

Grissom simply nodded.

"And five, he just got engaged."

Jim Brass, who had made some major inroads into the pile of food on his plate, simply dropped his fork, stood up and to everyone's amazement, tugged the tall brunette beside him, up into a tight embrace. "Congratulations you, two," He announced, after he'd let her go and shook his closest friend's hand. "I was wondering when you'd get around to making it official."

Grissom and Sara exchanged curious glances. They really had told no one…

"What?" He looked at the six people staring at him. "I knew about a year ago, he was involved with someone." He shoved another hunk of crepe into his mouth. "I knew nine months ago it was Sara, and I knew 7 months ago that they were living together."

Sara simply flushed with embarrassment, while Grissom let out a soft chuckle.

"Hey…" What kind of a cop would I be if I didn't notice my best friend was head over heals in love and had finally done something about it?" He grinned, a know-it-all grin, at them all and held up a cup of coffee he'd appropriated from someone at the table. "To short goodbyes, long welcome homes, and someone to have and to hold."

FIN


End file.
